SUNRISE MAYOR, COUNCIL BATTLE OVER CONTROL

SUNRISE -- Acrimony between the City Council and Mayor Larry Hoffman has replaced a month of harmony after the council voted to strip the mayor of his supervisory power over a handful of city employees.

The council has agreed that nine clerks and secretaries who work for the council, the city clerk and the city attorney should answer to the City Council, not the mayor.

Only council member Roger Wishner, elected a month ago, voted against the measure, saying it was impractical.

But the rest of the council decided the move was necessary for proper separation of powers between the city's administrative and legislative branches.

"You're creating an impotent city clerk, city attorney and City Council if we do not control our own staff," said Council President Steve Effman, who proposed the measure.

But Hoffman said the council's move violates the city charter, which gives the mayor administrative responsibility over city employees.

City Attorney Jon Henning, in a six-page memo to Effman, said the council would not be violating the charter by approving the proposal.

The council is expected to ratify the decision on April 21, but Hoffman said he might veto it.

"I'd have to seek legal advice on whether to veto it," Hoffman said. The mayor said he could not rely on Hennings advice because of the attorney's memo.

"We'll see the beginnings of some legal bills coming in," Hoffman said.

Council members framed the controversy as a separation of powers issue because the mayor has the power to hire, fire and transfer clerks and secretaries who do work for the City Council.

If the mayor wanted to be unscrupulous, or "just thought the council was doing too much," Effman said, he could handicap the City Council by taking away its employees.

Residents would feel the impact because city government would grind to a halt, Effman said.

Effman quoted Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, who said during his brief tenure as Sunrise mayor in 1985: The City Council "has no staff unless the mayor so decides to give you a staff."

Even council member Dan Pearl, usually a staunch ally of Hoffman, voted for the measure.

"I don't see this as an attack on the (Hoffman) administration," Pearl said. "It is a natural transition, and it only affects nine employees out of nearly 700."